Thursday, May 09, 2013

The Yard by Alex Grecian

First Line: London, 1889. Nobody noticed when Inspector Christian Little of Scotland Yard disappeared and nobody was looking for him when he was found.

Just months after Scotland Yard spectacularly failed to catch Jack the Ripper, Colonel Sir Edward Bradford has created the Murder Squad-- twelve men put in sole charge of solving all the violent crimes committed in the largest city in the world. Morale has never been lower at the Yard, for their failure to catch the Ripper has turned the population of London against them-- and now someone is killing them, sewing the police officers' eyes and mouths shut and stuffing their bodies in steamer trunks. Detective Inspector Walter Day, the newest member of the Murder Squad, will need all the help he can get from Dr. Bernard Kingsley (the Yard's first forensic pathologist) and Detective Constable Nevil Hammersmith if these murders of their colleagues are to stop.

Even before I finished this book, I wanted to have copies of it magically appear in the hands of all historical mystery fans. When I did finish it, I had to restrain myself from dancing around the house in delight. What a marvelous book!

Alex Grecian's descriptive powers would have Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins clapping him on the back in approval. In The Yard, Victorian London comes to life in all its smelly, crowded and depraved glory. Some readers may glance at the book's almost 600-page bulk (depending on the particular edition) and walk away, but this story reads like a house afire. The murders of the policemen aren't the only crimes Day, Kingsley and Hammersmith wind up investigating either. When the story begins, Day has only been at the Yard a week. As he becomes more accustomed to the men with whom he's working and with workplace routine, he and the other two men begin to pick out similarities in other crimes... and sometimes things just fall into his lap.

Grecian does not leave his villains under cloaks of invisibility until it's time for the ending reveal. No, one by one they raise their masks, pull back their hoods, and show themselves to us. What's brilliant about this is that there's absolutely no reason to despair. This book is about so much more than identifying a few criminals. Knowing their identities and watching them follow the good guys around during their investigations really ratchets up the suspense-- especially when the chase leads Day and Hammersmith through narrow streets in the dead of night or in the creepiest asylum you'll ever have the "pleasure" of exploring.

But more than lush descriptions and an intricate plot, The Yard is about people. We learn the backgrounds of Day, Kingsley and Hammersmith. We come to know them, to like them, and to care about their safety. We see the way they interact with people from every level of society. We learn what they believe to be important. I know that one of the basic tenets of crime fiction is justice-- to right wrongs, to speak for the dead. The Yard does all this and much more, but it's been a long, long time since I've read a book that was filled with so much compassion and humanity. Not only do Day, Kingsley and Hammersmith see the absolute worst that we humans can do-- they still believe we're worth fighting for, and worth saving. This book spoke to me on so many levels. I can't recommend it highly enough.

12 comments:

Thanks for the review. Hard to resist an A+. But I must say your comment about "almost 600 pages" really put me off the book. I checked Amazon and noted that their hard and paper bound copies each are listed as 432 pages, so I went ahead and ordered it. Not sure which publication you got - perhaps one of those great "airport" editions at Heathrow - but 432 just seems a lot more readable than almost 600. Ken

Like it says in the small print at the bottom of my review, it's a Penguin paperback I purchased at Waterstone's in Cambridge. I think the major reason why there was so many pages is because the print was a bit larger and there were wide margins on each page. These tired eyes of mine appreciated not having to work quite so hard. ;-)

Sounds like a great book. Though not a fan of historical crime fiction, I have made exceptions and was glad I did. This one definitely sounds worth reading.

I will add it to my TBR list and hope I get to it someday. It makes it more appealing as it's 432 pages and not 600; that figure is too daunting. (I look at friends who tackle 900 page books by Ken Follett with total amazement. I'd be reading for weeks.)

This one sounds good, not only the historical period, which is fascinating, but the writing and the humanity.

Now will someone please start a petition for another day of the week just for reading?

Well, the aging process slows down reading. I remember in my teens picking up a pile of books once a week from the library and returning them a week later, only to get another stack. (Then again I was late to high school classes because I'd stay up very late glued to a book.)

Not only did I grow up in a library, my mother was the librarian. There would've been consequences if I'd been late to class-- especially since we lived in such a small town. (If I transgressed, my mother often knew about it before I had a chance to get home! LOL)

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About Me

Hi! I'm addicted to books (especially crime fiction), laughter and traveling off the beaten path. In my free time, when my eyes aren't glued to the printed page, one of them is usually pressed against the viewfinder of my camera. Let's see... books, laughter, travel, photography. Anything else? Oh yeah-- my dream house wouldn't have a kitchen!